Small sounds
by Peter Margasak on January 15th 2008
I suppose the “high profile” Peira release is the trio recording by trumpeter Nate Wooley and percussionist Tim Barnes, both from New York, and Chicago bassist Jason Roebke, but the album that really knocked me out was the duet by Roebke and Labycz. They create an austere, almost desolate soundscape, where a terse thwack or string scrape carries startling force, but the greatest pleasure is in their interactions in the pin-drop delicate passages between those gestures. It’s no longer enough for contemporary improvisers to make the listener wonder who’s doing what and with which instrument–although this pair certainly manages that. Roebke and Labycz’s heavily tactile utterances masterfully underline the physicality of their instruments, which must be struck, rubbed, or touched in some way to function, but their interplay is so sensitive and engrossing I found myself not caring a whit about what was making the sounds.
http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/post-no-bills/2008/01/15/small-sounds/

Chicago Reader [October 2007]:
JASON ROEBKE & BRIAN LABYCZ
John Cage found music in the noise around us everyday. Electronicist Brian Labycz and acoustic bassist Jason Roebke take that premise a step further by making music that sounds like everyday noise. In jazz-oriented groups like Tigersmilk and the Valentine Trio, Roebke is the consummate inside-outside guy, switching effortlessly between hard swing and arrhythmic explosions, but with Labycz he goes all the way out. On Duo, a CD-R release on Labycz’s Peira label, there’s no groove or melody—in fact you can’t always tell Roebke’s playing a bass. But he’s doing what the music needs, complementing Labycz’s harsh scrapes and lacerating crackles with superbly timed snaps and cavernous groans; their improvisations sound like a carefully orchestrated rummage through a hardware store. A trio of Fred Lonberg-Holm, Michael Colligan, and Aaron Zarzutski opens. 10 PM, Heaven Gallery, 1550 N. Milwaukee, second floor, 773-342-4597, $5 suggested donation. —Bill Meyer

Vital Weekly
BRIAN LABYCZ & JASON ROEBKE - DUO (CDR by Peira)
TIM BARNES & JASON ROEBKE & NATE WOOLEY - TRIO (CDR by Peira)
A new label from Chicago is Peira. They seem to be focussing on improvised music, judging by their first two releases. Nice packaging (printed sleeves) to start with. From the five artists that play the music on these first two releases I just recognized the names of percussionist Tim Barnes and trumpeter Nate Wooley. Brian Labycz plays electronics and koto and Jason Roebke plays double bass. Labycz is an improviser with Vadim Sprikut as LSD and cuartor of the Myopic Improvised Music series. Roebke has played with Tigersmilk (which includes Rob Mazurek), Art Union Humanscape and has played with various jazz bands. On their collaborative CDR they play highly demanding improvised music which lasts for quite some time, and a certain tiredness leapt in here. There is perhaps only as much as a person can take. Great improvised music but a bit too much.

The other release, obviously called ‘Trio’ is by Barnes, Wooley and Jason Roebke. Like with the other this is a head dive deep into the world of improvised music. Right from the start we aren’t left alone, but there is always sound to guide us. What seems to be acoustic rumbling at the start of loosely disjointed sounds, will gradually grow into something electric sounding. I have no idea how or what they are doing there to generate these sounds, but it surely sounds great. It expands the original sound, makes it richer, but also more chaotic and nervous. Both of these releases are in the same alley, of free improvisation, of loud onkyo, or soft noise (whichever suits you), but both are demanding releases. Put these on and play them, might not do them justices at all. Sit down and concentrate and a new world will open for you. (Frans de Waard)

tigersmilk on Family Vineyard
“This music has more grit and rhythmic thrust than much current electro-acoustic improv, but it shares that idiom’s urge to sculpt and situate sounds clearly in a space where they can overlap and rub against each other with an almost tactile friction.” -Dusted

Flatlands Collective
“…the exemplary tandem work of Roebke and drummer Tim Mulvenna merits special mention.” -Downbeat